Vilnius TV Tower is one of the highest buildings in the Eastern Europe and the highest in Lithuania. Its height reaches 326.5 metres and the weight of the whole structure is estimated at 30,000 tons. The tower was designed by Vladimiras Obydovas and the engineering section was designed by Kazimieras Balėnas. The construction of the tower started in 1974 and lasted for 6 years. The TV Tower is unique not only because of its exterior. Radio and TV equipment is housed in the lower and the upper part of the tower whereas main cables run down the entire length of the tower pipe. The pipe of the tower consists of 18 floors with work and auxiliary premises. For Lithuania, however, it is not only an impressive building but also a symbol of Lithuanian freedom and independence. Soviet armed forces forayed into Vilnius on the night of January 13, 1991, and surrounded the TV Tower and people who were protecting it. Even today you may find the marks of gunshots on the walls of the Tower. Fourteen defenders died during this attack. Today the TV Tower hosts an exhibition dedicated to those tragic events. A bronze memorial entitled Aukojimas (Engl. sacrifice) and dedicated to the fighters for independence was unveiled here in 2005, and the streets surrounding the TV Tower carry the names of those people. From the celebration of the millenium in 2000, it has become a tradition to decorate the TV Tower and therefore every year it becomes one of the tallest Christmas trees in the country that sparkles with 5440 Christmas lights. During the World Basketball Championship 2006 in Japan, the tower was decorated with the world biggest basketball net. Not far from the TV Tower streatches Karoliniškės Landscape Reserve. http://www.vilniusautomobiliu.lt/index.php/pageid/1090/objectid/595